Everything Immersive This Week (8/15/20)
The flame lives on
Is it just me, or has August moved exceptionally quickly? Like, maybe it’s just moving at normal speed, but the summer has been so aggressively, well, everything that even with all the News™ of the week things I’m still surprised that September is already here.
I’m sure others are having a vastly different August, and honestly I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with how quickly things are moving. Gives a sense of inevitability. Maybe we’re in the montage? Yeah. That’s it. We’re in the montage.
This week’s montage kicked off on a down note: Then She Fell closed. The team celebrated the passing of a great show via a tribute post and got together to talk about it on the day of the announcement on the podcast (see below).
We’re still in this very weird place where artists and audiences alike are still finding their feet and pushing the envelope on a medium they never expected to be using. I’ve got a feeling that some of the most interesting work is about to start materializing. For example: Optika Moderna has a new production, Portaleza which will be shipping its physical component out to participants next month. That show is part of La Jolla Playhouse’s Digital Without Walls program, which has used the banner of the bi-annual festival to platform all kinds of experiments over the past few months and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Something to be excited about.
Another thing to be excited about RECON: Reality Escape Convention, from our friends at Room Escape Artist, hits next weekend August 23rd&24th. Originally planned for IRL in Boston, David & Lisa have done a whole lot of work to translate the con into an online event that won’t suck. We’ll have them on the podcast next week to discuss (the episode is in the can already) but you can grab a FREE ticket for the event now. This event is great for anyone passionate about escape games, or interested in how that part of the immersive world is growing.
One more thing: we’re about to do a total overhaul on the Newswire ad Now Playing sections, thanks to the headway we’ve made on the new Everything Immersive site. More on THAT next week.
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ON THE PODCAST THIS WEEK
On Monday of this week NYC’s Third Rail Projects announced the end of Then She Fell, the seminal immersive production which inspired countless fans and creators, after seven and a half years and 4,444 performances due to the ongoing pandemic.
That night we asked our team to gather in our Discord, along with some friends, to share memories and talk about what the show meant to them.
You can also find our tribute post on the website.
FROM THE WIRE: SHOWS, EVENTS, & EXPERIENCES
We’re still running the Newswire here at NoPro while the public beta of Everything Immersive shakes out. To get your work on the Newswire, submit at EverythingImmersive.com
LA: Welcome Home
Explore a Ghost Story With This At-Home Immersive Experience and Dinner
#NeverAlone
An Interactive Instagram Installation: One Influencer’s Unraveling
OneIronaut
We’ll see you in your dreams…
The Dark Tower
Roleplaying adventure game meets online escape room — play as wizards to stop a dark ritual
Immersiverse: The Great De-Digitization
The resistance against Big Tekka needs you — only with your help can we reclaim human connection!
Quest for Captain Madock’s Treasure
Mystery by mail — play at home adventure.
:robot_face:
Audience contestants compete as they reprogram AI chatbots to complete reality-TV challenges.
Portaleza
What hope remains when one sends a message into the ether with no guarantee of a response?
Recovery
The story of two recently deceased mortals finding their afterlife; devised specifically for Zoom
REVIEWS
We cross the pond this week, first by catching up with the last of our pre-pandemic VAULT festival reviews when Thomas Jancis stepped into the world Jekyll/Hyde, combined live actors, a smartphone app, and London lore into an evening length adventure.
Fast forward to the present, while simultaneously jumping to WWII, which finds Shelley Snyder commanding a naval vessel in Parabolic Theatre’s England Expects. This online team-based production is set in the company’s For King And Country series, which puts players into historical theatrical simulations.
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It sounds like a smashing adaptation of Parabolic’s signature style to the new medium, and Shelley’s reaction gives me hope for more companies finding their voice.
News From around the Immersiverse
The big news was end of Then She Fell and you know we had a lot to say about that.
Celebrating ‘Then She Fell’The NoPro staff pays tribute to a beloved productionnoproscenium.com
Two nods in The New York Times this week for the kind of work that we love to cover. (Both behind the paywall, natch.)
First up: Alexis Soloski continues her informal series of critic’s notebook roundups of the latest crop of immersive projects including not one but two rounds of jury duty in England.
Then its time to go for a walk, as the Times takes a stroll with processionals.
Our friends at Tender Claws are up for an Emmy for their work on The Under Presents.
Meanwhile, the Houston Texas based Theatre Under The Stars had The Under Present’s Dasha Kittredge and XR developer Alex Coulombe on as guests on their livestream to talk about immersive theatre in our online age. (Facebook Live link)
The US subsidiary of Sandbox VR has filed for bankruptcy. Given that LBE VR has been hamstrung by the pandemic, this isn’t so much of a shock. The good news from this Road to VR news story?
Sandbox says its reached a deal with the company’s lenders to restructure debt and reopen its locations once things eventually get back to normal.
Finally, a little fun for those of you who do you VR via PC.
A team of builders (4 Ponys) in VR Chat have created a horror game experience with over five hours worth of content inside VR Chat’s user generated content system. It’s called The Devouring, and it launched this week to accolades from the VR Chat community. Those of us with Quests are out of luck, but folks who have PC VR rigs will be able to access the experience or “world” in VR Chat parlance.
Opportunities: Professional & Educational
Workshop Series: Building Interactive Installations
Five weeks starting 8/30
All skill levels
Cost: $40 for materials, $25 suggested donation for the series itself
Learn Arduino and Touch Designer skills to build the next Meow Wolf or Museum of Ice Cream! Or maybe to level up your home decorating 🎨💭 Explore how sensors and inputs can be used to trigger meaningful shifts in LED lighting, projection, and sound. Bring your imagination to life with steps to grow an interactive art experiment to a robust showpiece.
Each of the 5 workshops can be taken alone, but you’ll get the most out of joining for the entire ride. The sessions are suitable for beginners to both Arduino and TouchDesigner. They will also be helpful to seasoned developers and designers looking to expand on their existing knowledge of interactive systems.
(CODAME Art + Tech)
Job Listing: Edu-Larp Designer
The Game Academy; Los Angeles, CA
$20 — $25 an hour — Part-time, Temporary
POSITION: Edu-LARP Co-Designer
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Edu-LARP Co-Designer will be a part-time position responsible for working with a team of staff and advisors (another Co-Designer as well as an oversight and evaluation team) to design an Edu-LARP aimed at promoting interest and engagement with STEAM subjects among middle school girls via a short-term in-person camp that incorporates a programmable wearable technology element; this program is a multi-year partnership with a California University and is funded by a grant from a national agency. [Please note, the in-person element of the camp is likely at least one year out from development due to COVID].
The nature of this work is currently remote, with frequent phone calls, emails, and virtual meetings.
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